The present invention relates to improvement of a vanity case, and more particularly to improvement of a latch-unlatch mechanism for a vanity case in which a receptacle member is hinged with a cover member through a connection between a hinge block provided at the rear end of the cover member and a recess formed at the rear end of the receptacle member.
In the conventional vanity case of the type set forth above, the cover member is maintained in a closed position relative to the receptacle member by engagement between elastic latch tongues formed on the front edge of each member. These latch tongues should have a very high accuracy in dimension for obtaining a smooth engagement and disengagement therebetween. Otherwise, the cover member would open accidentally or a relatively strong force has to be exerted to open the cover, thereby causing trouble to a user. Therefore, when molding the vanity case, the utmost attention has been paid to the accuracy of the latch tongues. Nevertheless, quite a number of vanity cases have been rejected as defective owing to inferior engagement, and a low yield is one of the greatest problems of production.
In these circumstances, improved vanity cases have been proposed which are disclosed, for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,276,893 and 4,331,168. Such vanity case is provided with a slide member in the vicinity of the latch tongue of either the case body or the cover member and, by pressing the slide member, the cover is forced to separate from the case body whereby the engagement between both latch tongues can be released. With this construction, some dimensional error can be allowed. However, this improvement is not free from defects, either. One of the defects is that since the slide member is designed to be inserted into a cavity slenderly extending in the longitudinal direction, shaking is likely to occur during a long use. Another defect is that since the latch tongues and slide member are arranged on the place which is externally accessible and therefore most exposed to eyes, designers encounter difficulties in representing various decorative designs on the vanity case. In addition, it is also considered to be unsatisfactory that the latch-unlatch mechanism still has to depend on elasticity of the projections.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case which is so simple in operation as to enable the user to open the cover member by one touch operation without a snap noise.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case in which engagement and disengagement between the protrusions do not require elasticity of the protrusions.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a vanity case in which no shaky noise will occur thereby maintaining a high-grade image thereof.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a vanity case which permits variety of design thereof without spoiling operability of the case.